Stopped by the Florida Highway Patrol, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes lashed out at a trooper and said "he would always have doubts when a trooper appears in his courtroom," according to a report made months after the incident. The confrontation in September shows bias against the Highway Patrol and should disqualify him from presiding over a case made by the agency, the State Attorney's Office argued in a motion filed last week. Reached Friday, Kastrenakes said, "I cannot comment on anything pending before me."

A Palm Beach County judicial candidate facing questions after she vowed to support the stance of a pro-life group retracted her pledge Wednesday. Peggy Rowe-Linn was the only one of 300 judicial candidates in Florida to sign an affirmation from a political action committee that's pushing for an amendment making abortion illegal. In return, Rowe-Linn got the endorsement of the group, Personhood FL ProLife PAC. Her pledge was to uphold the belief that abortion is not acceptable in any case.

Kudos on "Gatekeepers: Who gets asylum?" (July 3). Re Krome's Judge Neale Foster perhaps being "particularly tough on Haitians" and that this "longest sitting immigration judge in South Florida ... didn't approve a single Haitian asylum claim during the five-year period studied": Having appeared before Judge Foster frequently in the early 1980s as an attorney with the now-defunct Haitian Refugee Center, I'm not surprised. "This country is being overrun by Haitians," he declared on the record during one Haitian's hearing, looking directly into a TV camera he'd permitted into the courtroom.

For his great knowledge of the law, impartiality, demeanor and just about every other way you can think of evaluating a judge, he scores the Palm Beach County Bar Association's highest ratings. And just last week the county's criminal defense attorneys group created the Barry M. Cohen Champion of Justice Award in his honor for decades of respected service. But when the popular jurist stood Tuesday before the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee, he wasn't there for another tribute.

Re the Aug. 22 column of Robert A. Jordan of The Boston Globe: Your selection of the above column amazed me. It had been known for several days that the Republicans didn't leak the knowledge that Independent Counsel Robert Ray had convened a grand jury to decide whether President Clinton should be indicted. A judge appointed by Jimmy Carter, Richard Cudahy, has admitted he told a reporter. What can your readers assume except that you have dropped any pretense of impartiality and are now striking a pretty low blow against the GOP?

Broward Circuit Judge John T. Luzzo was scolded publicly by the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday for improperly accepting free baseball tickets from attorneys who appeared before him. "When a judge's impartiality is called into question, it reflects not only on the judge personally but on the entire judiciary. And it undermines the public trust and confidence in the judiciary," said Chief Justice Major B. Harding, as he delivered the public reprimand recommended by the Judicial Qualifications Commission and agreed to by the high court last month.

State appeals Judge Hugh Glickstein was reprimanded on Thursday for writing letters in 1990 supporting Leander Shaw`s attempt to be retained on the Florida Supreme Court. The letters, written to newspapers on court stationery, violated judicial ethics on impartiality, the high court ruled. "This neutrality must extend to political activity, even when the political contest involves a judicial colleague in whom one has the utmost confidence and respect," according to the majority opinion.

A Palm Beach County judicial candidate facing questions after she vowed to support the stance of a pro-life group retracted her pledge Wednesday. Peggy Rowe-Linn was the only one of 300 judicial candidates in Florida to sign an affirmation from a political action committee that's pushing for an amendment making abortion illegal. In return, Rowe-Linn got the endorsement of the group, Personhood FL ProLife PAC. Her pledge was to uphold the belief that abortion is not acceptable in any case.

By Susan Spencer-Wendel and Christine Stapleton The Palm Beach Post, October 28, 2009

The judges have been judged. Some came out shining in the biennial Palm Beach County Bar Association judicial evaluation results released Tuesday. Others, it appears, are in need of polishing up. Lawyers gave the highest percentages of "excellent" ratings for impartiality - the hallmark of a judge - to Chief Circuit Judge Peter Blanc, along with Circuit Judges Glenn Kelley, Jack Cook, Jack Cox and Richard Oftedal. The highest percentage of "needs improvement" votes went to Circuit Judges Lucy Chernow Brown, Diana Lewis and Karen Miller and County Judge Peter Evans.

A Palm Beach County judge who gave trial tips to a prosecutor during the sentencing of a man convicted of murder must disqualify herself from the case, an appellate court ruled on Wednesday. In its written ruling, the 4th District Court of Appeal said Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Virginia Gay Broome's actions were inappropriate, resulting in defendant Kirby Chastine questioning her impartiality. Chastine, 23, was convicted on Sept. 2, of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Marc Nadeau, 33, of Canada, during a Dec. 29, 1992, armed robbery near Nadeau's parents' seasonal home in Lake Worth.

The Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, which covers 30 million Americans who would not have health insurance coverage without it. Most observers with judicial backgrounds feel this law does not conflict with the Constitution. They're right, but what they forget is that the Supreme Court is now a political body. This is evidenced by the fact the justices have quoted tea party politicians' inane rantings about buying broccoli! The government can't require people to buy health insurance?

In July, the credibility of the Public Service Commission took another major hit. A nominating council that's dominated by the Legislature, which in turn is dominated by the utility monopolies, had effectively purged two PSC commissioners, who a year earlier had rejected the biggest electricity-rate request in Florida history. The nominating council's chairman, Sen. Mike Bennett, offered this reason: Commissioners Nancy Argenziano and Nathan Skop could be "disagreeable. " Bennett said his panel was "looking for a Public Service Commission that will be more congenial, more cooperative.

It's not an impartial source, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims Florida's court system is one of the least friendly toward businesses. A new survey of corporate attorneys and executives by the chamber's Institute for Legal Reform ranks Florida 42nd among the 50 states in legal fairness. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been pushing for tort reform nationwide for several years. The chamber asked the corporate officials to rate the states on 10 measures, including judges' competence, damage awards, treatment of class action suits and other factors.

Stopped by the Florida Highway Patrol, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes lashed out at a trooper and said "he would always have doubts when a trooper appears in his courtroom," according to a report made months after the incident. The confrontation in September shows bias against the Highway Patrol and should disqualify him from presiding over a case made by the agency, the State Attorney's Office argued in a motion filed last week. Reached Friday, Kastrenakes said, "I cannot comment on anything pending before me."

By Susan Spencer-Wendel and Christine Stapleton The Palm Beach Post, October 28, 2009

The judges have been judged. Some came out shining in the biennial Palm Beach County Bar Association judicial evaluation results released Tuesday. Others, it appears, are in need of polishing up. Lawyers gave the highest percentages of "excellent" ratings for impartiality - the hallmark of a judge - to Chief Circuit Judge Peter Blanc, along with Circuit Judges Glenn Kelley, Jack Cook, Jack Cox and Richard Oftedal. The highest percentage of "needs improvement" votes went to Circuit Judges Lucy Chernow Brown, Diana Lewis and Karen Miller and County Judge Peter Evans.

By Fred Reisner The idea that judges are totally impartial is preposterous. Supreme Court Justices past, present (and future) are, and were, influenced by their own predispositions. Justices Anthony Scalia and Clarence Thomas have amply demonstrated this bias just as much as the more progressive members of the High Court. Why else would the Court have such a predictable majority (or minoirty) position on specific cases? In fact, the entire justice system is based on personal biases -- starting with the arresting officers who decide whether to charge a specific crime; the prosecutors who decide whether to press any specific prosecution, and the courts where sentences are decided.

It's not an impartial source, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims Florida's court system is one of the least friendly toward businesses. A new survey of corporate attorneys and executives by the chamber's Institute for Legal Reform ranks Florida 42nd among the 50 states in legal fairness. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been pushing for tort reform nationwide for several years. The chamber asked the corporate officials to rate the states on 10 measures, including judges' competence, damage awards, treatment of class action suits and other factors.

Sexual harassment and intimidation charges against a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge are serious and disturbing. If proven true, they would reflect wholly improper behavior that impairs his integrity and ability to function as a judge and would justify his removal from office. Fortunately, the charges against Judge Howard C. Berman aren't being swept under the rug, ignored or treated as a simple case of an overly flirtatious judge. They are being treated as potentially serious official misconduct and are being made subject to a full investigation by Florida's Judicial Qualifications Commission.

The idea that judges are totally impartial is preposterous. Supreme Court justices past, present (and future) are, and were, influenced by their own predispositions. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas have amply demonstrated this bias just as much as the more progressive members of the court. Why else would the court have such a predictable majority (or minority) position on specific cases? In fact, the entire justice system is based on personal biases - starting with the arresting officers who decide whether to charge a specific crime; the prosecutors who decide whether to pursue any specific prosecution; and the courts where sentences are decided.

The death toll from a fire at a day care center rose to 44 on Monday, as authorities promised their investigation would be unaffected by family ties between a co-owner and the wife of President Felipe Calderon. Officials in the northern border state of Sonora said three more children had died as a result of Friday's fast-moving blaze, during which rescuers found only one working door. The episode has raised questions about official oversight of the preschool, known as ABC. The facility, a converted warehouse, was run privately but under authority of the Mexican Social Security Institute, which operates more than 1,500 day care centers around Mexico for 223,000 children.